CAFÉ NEEDS BREATHING ROOM
For many of the men and women who come to Recovery Café San Jose, the aging, nondescript building that sits in the shadow of city hall downtown has become a refuge of sorts — a welcome respite from the trauma of addictions, homelessness and mental health challenges.
There, they engage in vigorous group discussions, take classes like art and mindfulness and sometimes just enjoy a cup of coffee with friends.
And, for Lupe Hernandez, who is in her 80s, the little building on South Fifth Street holds so much more.
“It provides a family environment,” said Hernandez, who picked cotton in Fresno when she was young and worked in electronics as an adult. “The people here are very friendly, very kind. Everybody looks out for me and makes sure I get my cup of coffee and a little breakfast.”
But as important a place Recovery Café is for its members — which numbered about 200 before COVID-19 and has stabilized at around 135 — it has its challenges. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the facility had to close but its staff organized outdoor meetings for members and also directly delivered meals to them — whether it was at apartments, homeless encampments or a sober-living environment. Classes and recovery circles were held on Zoom for about a year, and Recovery Café helped some members get internet-capable devices to join. Recovery Café reopened to limited 25% capacity in June 2021 and then fully opened a month later.
“A lot of people suffered a lot with mental health challenges during COVID,” Executive Director Kathy Cordova said. “When they’re isolated for a year or more, that really exacerbates those challenges. And we’re bringing them back into that healing environment.”